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Top Workplaces past winner: St. David’s

Top Workplaces past winner: St. David’s

What it does: Operates hospitals, clinics and other health-care facilities around Central Texas

Austin employees: 7,900

Austin office: More than 90 locations in Central Texas

Nancy Shults has a hard time putting her job into words.

As the day supervisor in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. David’s North Austin Medical Center, Shults oversees the daily operations of its Level III NICU, which provides lifesaving measures and care to critically ill and premature infants 23 weeks and greater.

“I love everything about my job,” said Shults, who has been a registered nurse working in the NICU for 33 years and employed at St. David’s for the past nine years. “These little patients we have are so fragile yet so forgiving. There is nothing like witnessing a baby born four months early and then watch them get to go home with their families as healthy infants.”

Established in 1996, St. David’s HealthCare is Austin’s third-largest private employer and has grown to include more than 7,900 employees at more than 90 Central Texas sites, including seven hospitals, four urgent care centers, three freestanding emergency departments and five ambulatory surgery centers. St. David’s HealthCare has remained a consistent winner in the Austin American-Statesman’s Top Workplaces of Greater Austin program, which has recognized employers that stand for the best in leadership, vision and an employee-centered culture since 2010.

“Everybody would say it is a great place to work knowing you are saving lives,” said Megan Moss, coordinator of special projects for St. David’s HealthCare.

But Moss also said it is the culture of excellence and teamwork that thrives throughout the organization that makes St. David’s HealthCare a pleasant place to work. From regular employee forums and leadership meetings to recognizing those who went above and beyond with awards or an old-fashioned handwritten thank you note, employees help out wherever they can. Evidenced by the 17,000 thank you notes written last year alone, the appreciation employees have for one another is undeniably a big part of what makes St. David’s a great place to work. Moss shared a recent story about an incident that warranted a big thank you note from a group of nurses – when a hospital administrator jumped in to assist delivering and collecting meal trays when the nursing staff was in a crunch one day.

“It’s one thing to say it, and another thing to actually do it,” said Gail Acuna, director for St. David’s Academy for Clinical Excellence. “Our culture really flows throughout the organization – it really encompasses everyone from our patients and employees to our physicians and administrators.”

But there are also the experiences that don’t warrant recognition – the tangible moments that reinforce the lifesaving aspect of the jobs employees perform day after day like St. David’s HealthCare NICU reunions. This once-a-year event brings together former patients and their parents, allowing the NICU nurses to see how their once critically ill or premature patients have flourished into healthy children.

Those kind of pivotal moments – when employees can see the difference they are making – are what make being a part of the St. David’s team so fulfilling, said Yvette McDonald, director of St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas at North Austin Medical Center.

“The greatest joy we have as nurses in the neonatal intensive care units is seeing babies that started out in this world at just 23 weeks gestation go on to kindergarten with only a pair of glasses when in the past those babies wouldn’t have survived,” she said.

McDonald was brought to St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas less than a decade ago to grow the neonatal services and there is no arguing she’s done her job well.

“When I started here 9 years ago, we were at 150 deliveries per month,” she said of St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas which strives to provide the best possible care for families. “And now we are at 500 deliveries per month just at our north location alone.”

Today, she oversees the care of its women’s services department, which delivers 6,000 babies a year.

“From the onset of NICUs, St. David’s HealthCare has seen major improvements in the positive outcomes of these premature and critically ill infants by providing exceptional care,” she said. “The reason I love my job is because I can provide the type of care for patients that exceed expectations.”

St. David’s Women’s Center of Texas is proud to announce another expansion of its services and looking for qualified nurses to join its team.

“We are actively looking for members to join our team that hold the same values that are currently in place here,” said McDonald. “We are looking to hire more than 40 registered nurses for labor and delivery, NICU, antepartum and postpartum departments over the next few months just at North Austin location alone.”